


The Uncontrollable

by Anatemnein



Category: Designing Women
Genre: F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 12:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20760212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anatemnein/pseuds/Anatemnein
Summary: Anthony receives an unexpected visit from a niece he never met before, and his life--and relationship--takes a dramatic turn.





	1. Chapter 1

~~~~

Her foot hit the box that had somehow jutted its way out from under the bed, where it had been for so many years now she almost forgot it was there. Julia paused for a moment as she set her feet on the carpeted floor of her bedroom. The clock read 6:00 am, and she was just waking up, readying herself mentally for the day ahead when her foot stubbed that small, inconspicuous shoe box. She stood slowly, and moved her foot in such a way that she could have easily tapped it right back under the bed, right back to its point of origin. But she didn't, she merely stared at it for a few moments before she picked it up and set it on the bed in front of her. Her fingers teased the lid gently, now heavy with dust, having sat forgotten--and yet unforgotten-underneath her bed, but she quickly inhaled, pushed the lid back down and set the box back where it came from. Where it belonged, as she felt.

Julia sat back down on the bed for a moment, looking out the window of her room through the curtains at the red Georgia sun that was slowly breaking over the horizon. She bit the inside of her lip gently and said, "Not today, darlin'...not today."

And with that Julia folded herself safely into her steely resolve and went about getting herself ready for the day. By the time she descended the stairs at 8:30, to make coffee for herself and Anthony, the box was all but forgotten in its little haven under her bed.

And yet, not so, as things of that nature tend to be.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hmmm, where're we going for lunch, my baby?" Anthony hummed in Julia's ear, wrapping his hands around her waist, and relishing the knowledge that Suzanne and Charlene were in the storeroom, and Mary Jo was out, grabbing something from the store for one of Quint's science projects.

Julia giggled and swatted his hands playfully as she grabbed herself another mug of coffee. "Mr. Bouvier, are you starting something with me in the middle of the day, at work?" she asked playfully, peeking over her shoulder at him and offering him a sly, sexy look.

Anthony smirked and pulled her closer as he whispered in her ear, "You want to?", his voice heavy with suggestion.

"Anthony!" Julia cried, pulling away from him but giggling nonetheless. "When I asked you what you were in the mood for earlier, you know I meant food" she said, biting back a smirk.

"Mmm-hm," Anthony hummed, looking at her intently, "and when I said something southern, you should've known I wasn't thinking of fried chicken."

Julia swatted him again, sipping her coffee. "That's for after hours, Anthony" she said, her voice affecting a faux-stern-ness.

Anthony threw his hands up teasingly, and scooted away from her in mock fear. "Oh no, you're not gonna write me up, are you Ms. Sugarbaker?"

"Are you afraid you might get punished for your ill behavior?" she asked, cocking a brow at him, trying to remind herself that she was supposed to uphold a certain standard of behavior in the workplace, even with Anthony.

Anthony lowered his hands and looked at her plainly, stepping past her and saying slyly, "No, I'm afraid I won't get punished enough."

"Anthony!" Julia cried again, watching him walk to the desk near the bay window on the other side of the counter, shaking her head as he smirked to himself.

"I'm only teasing, baby," Anthony said gently, fighting the smirk that she knew was brimming on the edges of his lips. "Where would you like me to take you for lunch?"

Julia shot him a playful glare as she followed, walking to her desk with semi-faux professionalism. She sat down and stuck out her chin playfully like a disagreeable child and said, "I'm not hungry."

Anthony laughed in spite of himself, and retorted, "Well that's fine, I can spend my lunch hour enjoying my other hobbies and interests. Did you know Dynasty shows in the afternoons as well now?" He didn't look up from his work, because he knew that Julia's face was a grimace of jealousy, no matter how much she was trying to hide it. "I think B.C stands for Before Collins, as in Joan. The world was an empty plot of dirt before God blessed me with that raven-haired fantasy."

Julia bit her lip in frustration, glaring at him from her desk, or rather, at the side of his face. She hated when he didn't look up at her as he spoke, because she knew it meant one thing--that he knew that she knew that he was right. He was, but still. Julia knew how to conquer his rightness with her own equal level of rightness.

"Enjoy yourself, Anthony, I would be remiss to stop you from chasing that which could make you happy" she said simply, removing her jacket slowly and flinging it over the back of her chair loudly enough to catch his attention. She looked at him suggestively and continued, "Of course, as I recall, last night I did manage to make you happy...but I guess that's all in the past now," shrugging her shoulders with mock sadness as she looked down at her desk.

Anthony looked at her intently and smirked at her, winking as he said, "Baby, you're B.C, A.D, and everything in between far as I'm concerned", watching as she wiggled happily in her seat and flashed him sexy, playful look.

The door to the storeroom opened, and Suzanne trotted out first, arms empty, followed by Charlene, whose arms were overflowing with catalogs. "I told ya, Charlene, I can't carry anything heavy, my massage therapist says it's not good for my arms, it might cause cellulite" Suzanne chirped, sitting herself down on the sofa and watching Charlene haul her stacks past her.

"Uh-huh, yeah" Charlene huffed in annoyance, dropping the catalogs in a heap on her desk and letting out a few heavy breaths as she struggled to regain her composure. Apparently years spent arm wrestling with Odell had done nothing for her, as her arms felt like limp noodles as she dropped into her chair. "Oh Anthony," she called, limply waving a piece of paper at him, "I almost forgot, you got a phone call this morning. A young lady by the name of Tia called, said she'd be in to see you."

"Tia?" Anthony asked in confusion. "I don't know a Tia."

"She didn't tell me anything else, that's all she'd say. She should be here soon, she said early afternoon" Charlene said, slumping over the catalogs on her desk, still feeling the burn in her arms.

Anthony furrowed his brow as the door to Sugarbaker's opened. A young girl stepped inside, no more than 17 years old, and she said in a surprisingly confident voice, "I'm looking for Anthony Bouvier."

Anthony stood slowly and felt Julia's curious gaze move from the girl to himself and back again, knowing she was remembering that day a few years ago when Denise had showed up claiming he had a son. He had no son and no daughter, he knew that for sure, and he said hesitantly, "Yes, can I help you? I'm Anthony" as he walked toward where she was standing.

"I'm Tia. I'm your niece" she said plainly.

Anthony had almost no contact with any of his siblings, though there were quite a few of them scattered around the country. They'd all been raised by Dondi, but had gone down distinctly different paths, and Anthony had less and less contact with them as he grew older, and by the time he was released from prison, had no contact with any of them at all, save for an odd, occasional holiday card from one of them. He narrowed his eyes and looked her over carefully, and said, "I'm sorry, my siblings and I have no contact with each other, if I remember rightly Dondi mentioned once that my brother Darryl had a daughter named Tia, is that right?"

She nodded her head and said, "Yes, Darryl is my father, and Hannah is his current wife, my mom lives elsewhere. I found your address in one of my dad's address books and came here by bus from Louisiana because I need your help."

Anthony heard Julia rise to her feet behind him and turned to see her walking slowly toward Tia, hands clasped elegantly in front of her. "Would you like to sit down, Tia?" she asked gently, eyeing the girl sympathetically. Julia knew enough about life to know Tia was in a bit of trouble, and judging by the slight weight in her face in contrast to the rather petite figure, she knew what that trouble was.

Anthony wrapped an arm around Julia's waist and said, "Tia, this is my girlfriend, Julia Sugarbaker, she owns this business."

Tia nodded toward Julia but didn't smile, looking at the woman rather cautiously. The bad side of town Anthony had grown up in resembled the bad side of town she'd called home since birth in Louisiana, and the sight of a woman like Julia was one Tia was not used to. She did, however, silently give her uncle credit for having good taste, as the word 'beautiful' seemed almost too small a word to describe the woman he called his girlfriend. "I would like to sit, if that's alright, my feet are awfully sore. I walked here from the downtown bus station."

"How did you know where I worked, Tia?" Anthony asked, following her to the sofa, Julia following behind him and seating herself in the chair beside the couch.

"I remembered my dad mentioning a few weeks ago you worked for, as he called it, 'some fruity design firm doing women's work', and so when I got off the bus here, I leafed through the phone book and the name 'Sugarbaker's' rang a bell to me, so I just started here. I think Dondi told my dad the name once, and luckily I remembered it."

"So, what kind of help do you need from me?" Anthony asked as gently as he could. If he were honest, he felt a small tinge of annoyance at the idea of having to care for someone else after so many years of roughing it himself. He finally felt settled, had a good job, a woman he loved more than anyone, and a bright future, and it was as though the past were coming right back for him. As though the ghetto was telling him, 'You never really leave.'

Tia swallowed heavily and was about to answer when Julia looked at Charlene and Suzanne and said, "Could you two give us some privacy, please?"

Charlene and Suzanne had been too entranced to even consider minding their manners and excusing themselves, and were shot back to reality at the sound of Julia's firm tone. Charlene bolted up from her desk and walked swiftly toward the sofa, grabbing Suzanne by the arm. "Yes, yes of course" she said, as Suzanne wriggled in her grip.

"Do we have to go back to the storeroom I just sat down!" Suzanne hissed as she reluctantly followed Charlene.

Julia waited for the door to shut firmly behind them before turning back to Tia. "Go on, Tia" she said softly.

Tia looked away momentarily before looking back at Anthony and saying, "My dad kicked me out cause I got pregnant."

Anthony sat in silence for a few moments as Julia looked at him carefully, trying to discern whether he would know what to say. She got up from her seat and sat down beside Anthony, and touched his arm tenderly.

"Oh..." Anthony said awkwardly, feeling intensely uncomfortable, regretting the lack of children he had that could've prepared him for a conversation of this nature.

"How old are you, Tia?" Julia asked softly.

"I'm 17" Tia answered plainly, still looking at Julia somewhat wearily and quickly shifting her eyes back to Anthony.

Anthony was silent for a few moments more, his eyes glancing at the floor before returning to look at Tia again. "I guess you were hoping I'd be able to put you up?" he said uneasily.

Tia nodded and added, "Only for a few days maybe, until I can figure out what to do. I didn't know where any of your or dad's other brothers and sisters were, so when I found your address I came here because it was the only thing I could think to do."

Anthony looked at Julia momentarily and back at Tia, rising to his feet and shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked slowly around to the other side of the coffee table, trying to take in what was happening. "Well, I guess that'd be alright, I mean, I'm not--"

Julia sprang to her feet rather swiftly and looked at Tia kindly. "Tia, could you excuse us for a moment?"

Tia nodded, still regarding Julia with that careful, scrutinizing gaze. Of all the features the woman had, her eyes stood out most to Tia, grey-green eyes that danced beautifully under heavy, dark lashes. There was something else there, something Tia didn't have the knowledge to define, but it made her feel sad and lonely when she saw it.

Julia took Anthony gently by the arm and led him to the far side of the room and said quietly, "Anthony, what's the matter?"

"What do you mean, what's the matter, Julia? A niece I never even really knew I had comes showing up on my doorstep telling me she's pregnant, she's 17, she's been kicked out, she needs my help, and you don't know what's wrong?" Anthony said frantically. "What in the world am I supposed to do with a 17 year old girl I don't know?"

Julia looked at him tenderly, and grabbed his hand. "First of all, she didn't show up on your doorstep, she showed up on our doorstep--"

"I know it's our business, Julia!" Anthony shot back in annoyance.

"That's not what I meant. What I mean is that she's 17, she's pregnant, she's scared, and we are more than able to help her, and we will. She's not asking you to become the child's guardian, she's asking for some time to figure out what to do, you and I can give her that."

"But I don't want to give her that," he said feeling annoyed that Julia was volunteering him for something as serious as this with the same attitude she used when telling him he should take Bernice shopping. "I'm not prepared for--"

"Anthony," Julia said sternly, "you're gonna help this girl. She needs you."

Anthony straightened with a huff and simply turned away from Julia, walking back to the sofa. "Alright Tia, you can stay with me for a bit. Let me take you back to my apartment" he said solemnly.

Julia walked over to the front door and opened it as they stepped outside. She reached for Anthony and said, "I'll call you later, darlin'."

He pulled his hand away and said, "Yeah" and simply walked down the steps without another word. Julia bit her lip, and shut the door behind her, knowing he was frustrated and scared, but knowing also that she had encouraged him to do the right thing. Behind her, the storeroom door eased open slowly, and Charlene popped her head out. "Can we come out now?" she asked quietly.

"Yes" Julia said simply, walking over to her desk and picking up her work.

Charlene and Suzanne stepped slowly out of the storeroom, shutting the door behind them. "Is Anthony gonna take her in?" Suzanne asked as gently as she could muster.

Ordinarily, Julia would've reprimanded Suzanne for listening at the door, but she simply said, "Yes he will" and continued her work.

The rest of the afternoon was eerily quiet. Mary Jo had come back some 30 minutes later, and Charlene, in as hushed a tone as she could muster--one not hushed enough to escape Julia's ears--had told her about what happened as quickly as she could, so as to avoid being overheard. Mary Jo's face froze for a few moments, and she wisely decided to keep her head down along with everyone else and not ask Julia about it.

Julia for her part had to concede she felt some nervousness on her part. Not so much for Anthony, or Tia, who she knew were capable of dealing with problems as they were dealt them, but for her relationship with Anthony, which would now, as Dondi had once put it, "weather the storm, baby, and hope to come out in one piece."


	3. Chapter 3

By 7:00 pm that evening, Sugarbaker's sat empty, and Julia sat quietly on the sofa in the living room, staring at the phone on the end table. She had every intention of calling Anthony, wanted to reach out to him, but an equally convincing part of herself had spoken up each time she reached for the phone and convinced her to give him time to think through what was happening, and make the decision to call her on his own.

She was about to get up when the front door opened and Anthony stepped inside, face drawn tight with stress.

"Anthony," she said softly, "I was just thinking about calling you, how is everything?"

Anthony looked at her quietly before he stepped toward the sofa where she was seated and said, "Julia...I wish this one time you had just minded your business about things and let me make my own decision about Tia."

Julia was somewhat shocked, but quickly reconciled the anger he was dealing her with the stress he was feeling, and said gently, "Well, I'm sorry, darlin', but you know--"

Anthony shook his head firmly and said, "No, Julia, you don't know, that's the point."

"Anthony, I don't understand" she said softly, feeling confused as to what he was trying to insinuate.

"No, I know, because you can't" he answered in exasperation. He paused, looking at the floor briefly before looking back at her as he set his hands along the back of the chair beside the sofa. "Julia...I've been taking care of people my whole life. I helped with my siblings when they were little, I gave them money as they grew older, I helped Dondi out." He paused again, feeling both emotional and flustered. "Julia, my whole life has been centered around other people. I've always been responsible, always cleaned up other people's mess, and when I got into a mess of my own, I decided I was tired of being responsible for the people around me and I had to start taking care of me. And I spent years in prison, and years after working myself to where I am today, and now I'm headed for law school, I'm a business partner, I'm in a relationship with the person who was my first real friend after prison, and all of a sudden I wind up right back where I was, taking care of someone again." Anthony bit his lip in frustration. "You don't know what that's like, Julia, it's lonely. It's lonely, and scary, and you get to a point where you wonder if the life you're living will ever be your own or if it'll always be someone else's." He looked at her carefully as he shook his head. "And you don't know what that's like, Julia."

"Anthony..." Julia whispered, somewhat shocked by the outburst.

He raised a hand to stop her as he took a step toward the sofa. "Please, from now on, can you just let me handle Tia by myself?"

"W-well, well you're not by yourself, Anthony, I'm going to help you--"

"But that's not the point, Julia. You said yes to something that impacts my life, just because you can help me. Maybe I don't want to help. At all. Maybe I just want to live my life, without helping with help, without looking over my shoulder wondering who's gonna need me, just me, my life, my space--"

"Well, it isn't just your life anymore, Anthony. It's our life--"

"That's not the point, Julia."

"That IS the point, Anthony!" Julia could feel herself getting hysterical, and she hated it. She knew, partially, that Anthony was right. She could see where she had overstepped a boundary of some sort, made a decision for him thinking it was the right thing to do without considering the impact. But she also knew that she felt shut out, cut off from him at this moment, and that frustrated her beyond measure. It wasn't in Julia to turn out someone in need, especially a young girl, simply because it seemed 'inconvenient' of her to show up.

"Julia, this has nothing to do with our relationship, it has to do with the fact that you think you're NEVER wrong--"

"I think--?"

"What would you call this?" Anthony snapped.

"Well apparently, it's a demand for me to recuse myself from all aspects of your life that have nothing to do with work and sex" Julia said coolly.

"You're not the boss of my life, Julia, you're just the boss in here, and you forget--"

"I do not forget, nor do I treat you like I do!" Julia said, loudly, rising to her feet. The revelation that Anthony saw her as some kind of life-tyrant was deeply hurtful, and she was shocked to hear how a simple disruption this afternoon could bring this about.

Anthony stubbed a foot into the carpet and shoved his hands in his pockets, turning over the words that had been circling in his brain all afternoon since he left with Tia. He looked over at Julia, bit his lip, and said quietly, "I don't think this relationship is working, Julia."

For a moment, Julia stood silently staring at Anthony, hearing the words he said, but unable to really process them. "What?" was all she managed to say, and even that, just barely above a whisper.

Anthony shifted uncomfortably for a moment, remembering all the other times he'd ended relationships, and how nothing could take away the awful feeling of disappointing someone else. He looked back at her, noticing that tears were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes, and felt a wave of guilt wash over him, but not strong enough to stop the words that were forming in his mouth.

"Julia...I know you care about me, and you know I care about you, but...I don't know if you understand me sometimes. And the longer we're together, the more I think you may have less and less to understand. You help everyone because you've had time to focus just on yourself in life. I never had that" Anthony said, softly.

Julia's mouth dropped open, and a tear slid down her cheek as she said, "Care? I care about you?"

"Julia--" Anthony started, but paused when she turned away from him, taking a few steps toward the kitchen before turning back.

Tears were spilling freely down her face, in spite of her efforts to stop them, and she snapped, "If you think my life has been some kind of walk in the park then obviously the problem goes both ways!"

Anthony stepped toward her, saying, "Julia--" only to be cut off as she walked further away from him to the area behind the couch.

"Oh no, please, I'm so glad the truth has finally come to light!" she snapped. "After all the years, all the time, all the hardships you've seen me go through, and you think I help people when I'm not indulged in, oh, how did you put it, focusing on myself?!"

"I didn't mean--"

"How dare you?" she spat, angrily. "How dare you say something so awful to me, after telling me that I could trust you not to break my heart. How dare you say that you CARE about me, and I CARE about you! I don't CARE about you, I LOVE you, and I trusted you because I thought that you were different!" She was crying now, wiping frantically at her face, feeling her composure slip as she struggled desperately to maintain it.

Anthony reached for her as she walked past him toward the staircase but she whacked his arm away from her and took a few steps up the stairs before turning back to him. "Go to hell" she said coldly. "I want you out of my business, and out of my life. You're not welcome here anymore, ever."

Before Anthony could even formulate a reply, she was gone, and the sound of her bedroom door slamming was his cue to take leave.

It was over, he realized, standing there in her living room. In one foul swoop, his life and relationship was over.


	4. Chapter 4

Anthony sat hunched over at the breakfast table in his apartment, alone and in the dark, as dawn had not yet risen. He couldn't sleep, hadn't slept at all, and was staring at the empty coffee mug in front of him. He wasn't even really thinking about anything, just sitting and staring because he was too exhausted and upset to even form a thought.

"Are you okay?" came a quiet voice from behind him.

He turned with a jolt and saw Tia, who was standing in the doorway.

He sighed heavily, not particularly excited to see her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm alright" he said, turning away from her.

She stood awkwardly, not sure of what to do. "Anything you want to talk about?" she asked. She knew she didn't know him well--at all, really--but she liked him, sensed a quiet dignity in him that she hadn't seen in anyone before, and wanted to at least show some courtesy to him as a thank you for being allowed to stay.

He shook his head sadly, glancing at her for a brief moment. "No thanks, Tia."

She hovered for a moment before turning and retreating, shutting the guest bedroom door down the hall.

Anthony had no clue what to do. He thought ending his relationship with Julia would give him some time to focus on the situation with Tia with greater clarity, while also revealing to Julia his frustrations, frustrations he thought she would respond reasonably to. But as soon as he opened his mouth earlier that evening to break up with her, he knew he'd screwed up everything. 'Really, Anthony,' he thought to himself, 'that woman gives you everything you ever wanted, and you let loose on her and end things by saying 'thanks for caring about me'?' He almost thought to himself that he wanted to crawl in a hole, but the he realized

...he was already in one.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Julia" Charlene said happily as she opened the door to Sugarbaker's the next morning.

"Hi Charlene" Julia answered, not looking up from her work. Charlene studied her face carefully as she put down her things, noticing Julia looked pale and tired.

"Everything okay?" she asked hesitantly.

Julia plastered a smile on her face, and nodded as she quickly answered, "Yes", before returning to her work.

Charlene furrowed her brow as she sat down, the door swinging open behind her.

"Hey y'all" Mary Jo called out, striding easily toward her desk.

"Good morning" Charlene and Julia answered in unison. Mary Jo caught the tension in Julia's voice, and noticed the dead silence, that would usually be permeated with chatter, and glanced at Charlene, mouthing, "What's going on?"

Charlene shrugged helplessly as they both glanced at Julia from their seats, as Suzanne whisked breezily into the office.

"Julia," she called out," would you please tell Anthony I need my Mercedes cleaned? I know since he became your boyfriend he's awfully scarce, but I'd appreciate it if--"

"Anthony doesn't work here anymore" Julia said calmly, not glancing up from her desk.

All three of them glanced at one another as Suzanne dropped her purse on the sofa. "Julia, what do you mean, is this another one of y'all's silly--"

Julia glanced up at Suzanne, her face a hard, cold mask as she said slowly, "He doesn't work here anymore, Suzanne, and he and I are no longer together."

A stunned silence fell over the room, before Mary Jo stood slowly at her desk and said, "Julia..."

"He won't be hard to replace," Julia said, cutting her off, "after all...", she paused, drawing in a shaky breath, "you've seen one man, you've seen them all, right?" The bitterness in her own voice sounded foreign even to her, but Julia could remember few times in her life where she had felt so hurt, so awful, and so angry. Laying awake in bed last night, she'd decided to just indulge the anger. Why not, she thought, she deserved to.

"Julia, what happened?" Charlene asked softly, leaning over at her desk, concern causing her eyes to widen to the size of dinner plates. Even in all her years, she had never seen Julia so angry about something that she didn't even bother to talk about it. Julia always talked--hell, she yelled if it seemed fit--and the silence that hung in the room now disturbed her deeply.

"I might just go ahead and call up Reese, see if he can recommend someone for us" Julia said, ignoring Charlene.

The others glanced at one another again, unable to fathom what on earth was going on.

"Are you going to tell us what's going on, Julia?" Mary Jo asked.

Julia slammed her paperwork down on her desk and rose to her feet, grabbing her coffee cup and walking toward the kitchen. "The only thing you need to know, Mary Jo, is that Anthony does not work here anymore, and we need to find someone else as soon as possible" she replied simply.

Before anyone could say anything else, Julia turned and walked into the storeroom, shutting the door behind her. The others were too appalled to even begin to start an argument, so they gradually started flipping through their calendars, trying to rearrange prospective delivery dates in Anthony's now-absence. After about an hour, Suzanne looked up and, smacking her hand in frustration, said, "What the hell are we going to do about this?" as she motioned toward the storeroom.

Mary Jo shook her head in frustration. "Who knows?" she said softly.


	6. Chapter 6

It was midway through the morning, and Mary Jo, Charlene, and Suzanne had managed to rearrange the deliveries while Julia handled her end of things. She had emerged from the storeroom about an hour after she stormed into it, and was seated at her desk, bent over her paperwork. The others hadn't bothered to try to get more information out of her. Suzanne knew Julia well enough to know that when she got like this, staying out of her way until she had cooled off was best, and Suzanne had told the others as much, while also muttering worriedly that she couldn't even really remember seeing her so angry. They were all seated at their desks--minus Suzanne, who took her usual place on the sofa--when the door to Sugarbaker's flew open and Anthony rushed inside, looking frantic.

All heads shot up to look at him, and Mary Jo, Suzanne, and Charlene swung their eyes as inconspicuously as possible over to where Julia was sitting. Before anyone could say anything, he blurted out, "Is Tia here?"

There was a confused silence before Mary Jo slowly said, "No, no she's not, Anthony, why--"

"She's missing!" he cried, breathing heavily.

"What--" Julia started, slowly rising from her seat.

He held up a hand to stop her. "I know I'm not welcome here, I know our relationship is over, I know you hate my guts, but my niece is missing, and I can't find her, and now that I know she's not here I'll--"

"What do you mean, she's missing?" Julia asked breathlessly, walking slowly over to where he stood, forgetting, in that moment, the anger that she'd been clinging to since the night before.

"I mean, I saw her at 3 am, and when I went back in her room at 8 am she was gone!"

"Why were you awake at 3 am?" Julia asked, feeling worried in spite of herself.

Before Anthony could answer the others had climbed to their feet, purses in hand. "We'll help you find her, Anthony" Charlene said resolutely.

Julia followed swiftly behind them, and without even thinking, she climbed into Anthony's car, as they all took off in different directions to comb the streets of Atlanta. Everything had happened so fast that Julia barely had time to process what was happening, and she realized suddenly, as Anthony drove swiftly down the road, that she was sitting next to him. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, unsure of what to feel, feeling the anger well up in her again, and trying her best to keep it at bay. She felt the love too, but she was too stubborn to even acknowledge the feeling.


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you see her anywhere?" Julia asked Anthony as they walked the platform of the bus station.

"No" Anthony said, losing hope, and thinking it was time to give up the ghost and call the police. Before he could suggest it, Julia grabbed his arm and pointed ahead of them to a lone, small figure sitting on one of the benches.

"It's her" she said, softly.

Anthony stood still for a moment before walking slowly towards Tia, glancing at Julia to see if she was coming. "No," she said softly, "it's your life, not mine." She shook her head sadly, and turned away from him a bit, lowering her head so that she was looking at her shoes. "This isn't my business to handle" she said, somewhat coolly, pulling at the seam of her coat.

He considered arguing with her but realized he had more important matters to tackle, and walked over to where Tia was seated, lowering himself onto the bench beside her. She looked up in surprise, her head jerking back somewhat. "Anthony?" she asked confusedly, "what are you doing here?"

Anthony cocked a brow at her. "What am I doing here, what are you doing here? I talk to you in the middle of the night, and when I go to check on your this morning you're gone? What happened to staying with me?"

Tia shot him an icy look. "Well it's pretty obvious you don't want me there."

"What makes you think that?" Anthony asked, feeling somewhat stupid. He hated that she wasn't wrong about that, that he didn't really want her there, and he hated himself for making it so obvious that she felt unwelcome enough to decide running away was better than staying.

"Oh come on," she said, throwing up a hand in frustration, "I find you hunched over the breakfast table at three in the morning, and you don't think I'm smart enough to figure out why? I may be 17 and pregnant, but I'm not that stupid."

"I never said you were stupid."

"No, you just made it obvious that I was inconvenient."

Anthony's head jerked back in surprise, and he looked at his feet guiltily, feeling his cheeks flush in frustration. Before he could formulate another thought, he felt a delicate hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Julia sliding in next to him.

She drew in a deep breath and looked at Tia. "Tia, Anthony's behavior this morning wasn't about you, it was about--" she stopped short, shooting him a somewhat cold glance and looking at the floor. "It was about...something else" she said quietly. Anthony looked at Julia guiltily, and almost reached a hand over to her, but before he could she scooted away from him, squeezing herself into the far corner of the bench.

Tia looked confusedly at them. She paused for a moment before asking quietly, "So the argument wasn't about me at all?"

Anthony and Julia stiffened, impressed that she had discerned there'd been an argument, and Anthony cast a glance at the floor, stubbing his shoe on the concrete. "It was about that...and about other stuff" he mumbled.

"Other stuff?" Tia asked sarcastically, not really believing him at all, and thinking Julia was likely lying to cover for him, until she looked over at her and saw a tear slide down her cheek, before Julia could brush it away. Tia turned to glance at Anthony and noticed that he was staring at her.

"Julia..." he said quietly.

She shook her head and rose to her feet, brushing at her clothes. "I shouldn't be involved, excuse me" she said, walking away from them and toward the edge of the platform.

Anthony bit his lip and exhaled, trying to keep his composure. Tia shifted uncomfortably beside him, and said quietly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Don't worry about it, it's my fault" he answered, shaking his head. He paused for a moment, before looking up at Tia. "I'm sorry to you, for making you feel unwanted in my house. I always thought of myself as a man, but it's become pretty obvious that I've got a lot of growing up to do, more than I thought."

Tia shrugged, fiddling with her hands nervously. "It's okay. I'm sorry I ran away. I know showing up like this was probably a big surprise."

"It was" Anthony said with a small smile.

"I barely knew you existed until I got kicked out."

"Ditto" Anthony said, watching Tia smile a little. It occurred to him then that that was the first time he had really ever seen her smile since she got here. He had been so busy being mad, he hadn't even really taken the time to find out who she was.

Anthony looked at her somewhat sheepishly. "So, you still wanna stay with your ol' Uncle Anthony?"

She grinned up at him, and nodded. "Yeah, definitely," she said happily. Tia turned to glance at Julia, who had been watching them, discreetly, from afar, and was now looking at her heels as their body language had told her the conversation was drawing to a close.

Tia turned to look at Anthony, who was gazing sadly at Julia. "You guys break up?" she asked awkwardly.

"Yeah...yeah" he answered, looking at his hands.

Tia paused for a moment before saying, "Think she still loves you?"

Anthony shook his head slowly. "No."

"That's not really fair" she said decidedly.

Anthony turned to look at Tia and said firmly, "You don't know the whole story, and you also don't know Julia. She's not a bad person" he said, looking at Julia again.

Tia shifted, forced to concede that he was right. Before she could say anything else, Anthony rose to his feet and looked down at her, stretching out a hand. "You coming?" he asked, as playfully as he could. She smiled and took his hand, rising to her feet, and following him over to where Julia stood, lagging behind him just a bit. She wasn't sure how much of this conversation she was welcome to hear.

Anthony looked at Julia as she turned to face him, and he said quietly, "I'm taking Tia home, you want to come back to my place to talk, all three of us, or just us when she and I--?"

Julia shook her head firmly. "No, I'd like to go home, I have to get back to Sugarbaker's and let the others know you found her."

He slumped a little in disappointment before offering, "I could come get you later--"

"No," she said icily, "I just want to go home." She stepped past Anthony and rubbed Tia's arm gently. "I hope you're alright, darlin'" she said, trying her best to put on a happy smile.

Tia saw through the facade, but knew it was none of her business, and thought that maybe she could work the story out of Anthony later anyway. "I am." She paused. "Thanks for looking for me too."

Julia looked at her sadly, turning away for a moment, before simply smiling and nodding, unable to come up with a better response to diffuse the tension. Anthony stepped up behind them, and they all walked in silence to his car, and 2o minutes later Tia watched from the backseat as Julia stiffly got out and strode toward the front door of her home, closing the door behind her without looking back. Anthony drove the rest of the way home in silence, with Tia shooting occasional glances at her uncle, wanting so badly to know what went wrong. She figured it was only fair--after all, he was seeing her at her most vulnerable.


	8. Chapter 8

The blanket that lay on the sofa was surprisingly soft to the touch, and Tia slid beneath it, marveling at the quality. She had to give her uncle credit here as well; he had good taste, his apartment size-able for a bachelor pad, and stylishly furnished. She could tell his workplace had rubbed off on him, as she looked at the vase that sat to her left on a marble topped end table, out from which jutted a few long-stemmed white lilies. There was a painting above her head, and on the far corner of the living room a sleek, moderately sized television sat in a wooden armoire. She heard the sound of feet and turned to see Anthony carrying two cups on hot chocolate in his hands, handing hers to her gently.

"Thank you" she said, quietly, stuffing her legs beneath her.

"Welcome" he said, setting his mug on the table. He almost thought how much she looked like a child with her legs tucked beneath her like that, when he remembered that, although young and petite, Tia seemed to possess and discernment that surprised him for someone as young as she was.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Tia said, "So...wanna talk about your girlfriend?"

Anthony paused, sipping his cocoa again, before saying softly, "Ex-girlfriend."

Tia felt a surge of promise. He had answered, and it wasn't the admonishment that she was expecting, she so hoped that if she tread lightly she might find some answers, or at least get to know her uncle better.

"How'd y'all meet?" she asked, curiously. It hadn't exactly escaped Tia that Julia was from a different world than Anthony and herself.

Anthony smiled to himself at the memory, cradling his mug thoughtfully. "In the parking lot of a grocery store. She was coming out, I was going in, I asked if she needed help, and she offered me a job" he said, shrugging.

"Just like that?"

"Basically."

Tia pondered that for a few moments before saying, "Did she know you'd been in prison?"

Anthony stiffened a little. Not only had Darryl taken the time to tell his niece that he did 'fruity women's work', but he'd also mentioned Anthony's stint in prison. Anthony was reminded more and more of why the only family he associated with was Dondi.

"Yeah, yeah she did." Anthony shrugged again, turning the mug gently in his hands. "She didn't seem to mind it, not really, said she just liked my aura and thought I was worth a shot." Anthony felt a pang of sadness thinking about that moment now. It had been a long time since he'd done so, and it always amazed him how, on little less than a hunch and her good intuition, Julia had picked him out and set him on the path to success.

"Did you start dating right away?"

Anthony glanced over at Tia and shook his head, looking at the coffee table and smiling again to himself. "No, no, that came about almost a year ago, about 5 years after I first met Julia."

"What took so long?"

He cocked his head thoughtfully. "I'm not sure, I guess..." Anthony trailed off, realizing he didn't know how to answer her question. What had taken them so long? "I guess I thought that she was too good for me, and...and she had another boyfriend for a long time that she was kinda on and off with" he answered simply, rolling his eyes inwardly at the thought of Reese.

"Didn't like him?" Tia asked, noticing the flicker of dislike that crossed Anthony's face.

Anthony shifted on the sofa. "Nope" he said, sipping his cocoa again.

"When did you realize you loved her?"

Anthony laughed quietly to himself. "After our first big fight."

"What was it about?"

Anthony turned to look at Tia carefully. "Nu-uh, I'm not laying all our cards on the table" he said, eyeing her carefully. "Besides, my intuition tells me you're more interested in yesterday's big fight."

Tia looked away shyly. "You guys seemed pretty happy when I first got here" she said softly.

Anthony shifted guiltily, looking at the floor. "Listen Tia," he said, looking at her, "our fight may have been set off by you coming here, but the truth is if you hadn't started it, something else would have, and the result would've been about the same. Julia and I are both hot-tempered, short on patience, strong-headed..." Anthony trailed off, feeling another pang of sadness as he remembered all the nights when it was Julia who was perched in Tia's spot on the sofa. He could see it now, Julia, with her long, dark curls splayed over the pillow on his sofa, grinning happily at him as he brought dinner into the living room. He remembered the first time...their first time, when she had surprised him by making the first move while they were talking after dessert. She'd followed him into the kitchen, helping him stack the dishes, and as he closed the dishwasher Julia had leaned in for a kiss.

'Thank you, darlin'' she'd said softly, kissing him again.

'You are most welcome' he'd hummed against her mouth.

Julia had looked up at him then, hesitating for a moment before pulling him closer again, and running her hands up his chest and around his neck. It hadn't taken Anthony long to realize what she was communicating to him, and they'd slowly made their way from the kitchen to the bedroom, where Anthony had been surprised by the level of passion that resided in Julia, and to which he was introduced in increments, as she opened herself up to him in a way she had never opened up to any other man before. He could still remember waking up beside her the next morning, his alarm trilling softly on the end table, as he'd leaned over and kissed her awake, hearing her giggle as he whispered a few naughty things in her ear while pulling her closer.

He thought about the first time he'd seen her cry. It was late, he'd been at his apartment watching TV, when a small knock sounded against the door. He'd peeked through the peep hole curiously, surprised to hear a knock so late, and opened the door to see Julia, standing on the other side, her face pulled taut with stress.

That was the first night that Anthony realized that Julia struggled with, what she called, 'dark moments'. He knew, more than likely, it was depression, but didn't push the label, and merely sat with her on the couch while she cried on his shoulder, unsure of what to say at first, and eventually realizing that she didn't need him to say anything.

Anthony's thoughts were cut by the sound of Tia's voice.

"Uncle Anthony?" she said again, quietly.

"Huh? Yep?" he asked, snapping back to reality.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed," she said, climbing off the sofa, "why don't you try calling her?"

Anthony shuffled his feet a bit. "Oh, uh, I don't know--"

"At least tell her thank you, for today, ya know? She didn't have to come looking for me."

Anthony nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, yeah, maybe you're right." He watched as she walked down the hallway, and waited until he heard the bedroom door clicking shut before turning to look at the phone. He was scared, nervous--what if she didn't want to talk? What if it was just like this afternoon? He took a deep breath, wiped his hands on his pants to try to get the sweat off that had already started to form, and picked up the receiver, pausing again before finally dialing the number. He checked the clock--8:03 pm--and figured it wasn't too late yet.

After a few rings, he heard the receiver click in his ear. "Hello?"

Anthony's stomach tightened suddenly in nervousness, and he paused before saying, "Hey Julia", unsure of how to even start this conversation.

There was a brief pause on the other end before she said, "Hello, Anthony" in a cool, quiet voice.

"Did I catch ya at a bad time?"

"No, no" she replied, shuffling some papers around on her desk absentmindedly. Julia, for her part, was still trying to decide how angry she still was, and trying to fight off the intense loneliness she felt at a time that would usually have been spent with Anthony, at her place or his, eating dinner and laughing together.

"Can we talk?" he asked tentatively.

Julia paused again. "About?"

"I wanted to thank you for today. You didn't have to help me, or Tia."

"Well, she's a girl in need, and I care about her, and well..." she trailed off awkwardly, feeling the anger rising in her again as she bit back a few tears.

Anthony could hear her breath shudder slightly, and knew she was trying not to cry, and felt another pang of guilt as he said, "Listen, I don't know how to apologize for what I said, I was frustrated--"

"No, it's fine, I mean, it's good that's it's all out in the open now" she said coolly.

"I didn't mean it Julia" he said, trying not to sound like he was pleading, but failing, somewhat.

Julia bit her lip as a stray tear rolled down her cheek, opening her mouth to reply, but shutting it again because she didn't want Anthony to hear her crying. She stomped her foot on the ground in frustration, shifting her weight as she wiped a few tears from her face.

"I just want a chance to talk to you, to apologize, that's all I want" he said, hearing the short, stuttering breaths that she was trying to hide.

"Fine," she said quietly, taking him by surprise, "you can come by if you want to apologize, and that's all."

Anthony breathed in excitedly, and threw his coat on, barely taking the time to call out to Tia that he was leaving before he flew out the door.

Tia watched him walk quickly across the parking lot. It didn't get passed her how excited he looked to be seeing Julia again, and she smiled to herself as she watched him drive off.


	9. Chapter 9

Julia sat anxiously on the sofa, partly regretting her decision to be so agreeable, as she fiddled with the fabric of her skirt. In truth, she was still deeply upset--angry, really--and had every intention of letting Anthony know as much when he walked through the door. Her elbow bumped the small cardboard box that had taken up residence under her bed for so many years, jolting her, reminding her that there as something else she intended to tell Anthony.

The door to Sugarbaker's opened softly, and Anthony stepped tentatively inside.

In spite of herself, Julia felt the anger melt slowly away as she looked at him, his eyes wide, his face drawn from a lack of sleep.

"Hey" he said awkwardly, closing the door behind him.

"Hi" she said stiffly, straightening herself and fixing her clothes.

Anthony walked slowly over to the sofa and sat down beside Julia, feeling her stiffen as he did so. He looked over at her, seeing the hurt that was hiding underneath the mask of anger that sat on her face. He wanted desperately to grab her hand, but thought the better of it, and took in a deep breath.

"I can't think of anything better to say than I'm sorry, Julia, really sorry" he said softly. "What I said I said because I was angry, frustrated, overwhelmed." He paused. "I guess I had been feeling like sometimes you tried to control me too much, and instead of telling you the right way, I let it all bottle up until I exploded...and I said a lot of things that I really regret right now. And that's not your fault, that's mine, for not handling things correctly, and for disrespecting you."

He paused again, watching her face carefully and trying to gauge her reaction. She had turned away from him and was thumbing the seam of her skirt absentmindedly.

"Can you forgive me, Julia?" he asked, leaning forward a touch to try and see her face, which was hidden mostly by her dark hair.

There was a moment of silence before Julia inhaled slowly, looking at Anthony, and replying, "I don't know, Anthony." She shook her head and turned away again. "I just don't think I'm ready to do that yet."

Anthony's shoulder slumped in disappointment, but in truth the fact that she had even agreed to see him was generous of her, and he knew it would take some time for things to return to normal between them.

There was another silence before she said, "I guess...I guess I'm sorry too." She could feel his eyes on her as she continued. "I thought a lot about what you said, about how I try to control everything, how I want to have my way so much of the time." She paused. "I know I'm that way sometimes...I try not to be..." she shrugged awkwardly, looking over at the box beside her.

Anthony followed her eyes and waited for her to speak as she grabbed it, and set it gently on her lap. Julia took in a deep, shaky breath, her fingers shaking as she slowly removed the lid. Anthony was surprised to see a small onesie inside, and two small, white baby shoes, made for a newborn. He looked at Julia's face, and noticed she was crying, silently, and reached over to comfort her, surprised when she didn't shake him off.

"I miscarried after Payne was born" she said quietly, unsure of how to tell this to Anthony, this thing which she hadn't ever told anyone, not even Suzanne. She stroked the onesie gently and looked at it as she spoke. "I was devastated...I never told Hayden, it was early on, just after I'd found out. We hadn't been trying because of his health, but it just happened...and it's the only thing in my life that I had no control over" she said, wiping away a few tears and placing the clothes and shoes back in the box. She turned to look at Anthony, who was staring at her intensely, holding back his own tears. She set the box in his hands, and said quietly, "I want Tia to have this."

Anthony looked at her in surprise. "Julia, I don't know what to say..."

"Nothing," she replied, shaking her head, "I need to let go, to accept that I can't control everything, and there's someone who needs this more than I do."

"I didn't know--" he said, still feeling shocked by her admission.

"No one does...except for you" she replied, running her fingers over the couch cushion.

Anthony was about to say something when she looked up at him and said, "You can come back tomorrow. We need you here, at Sugarbaker's, there's a lot that needs doing that hasn't gotten done, and there's no reason for our falling out to affect the business. It's unprofessional."

Anthony reached for her again, but she rose to her feet, shaking her head slightly. "I should get to bed, it's getting late."

He rose to his feet silently, still trying to process what she'd told him as he walked toward the front door.

He turned around to face her as he opened the door, standing there uncertainly as he held the box in one hand, and the door knob in the other. He stared at her for a few moments before he finally said, "I love you, Julia. No matter what happens between us, I'll always love you."

She bit her lip and looked away for a moment, before looking back at him and simply nodding, unable to think of a better reply.

He stepped out into the night and shut the door softly behind him, hoping that things between them could eventually be like before, because he knew he missed her more than anything.

For her part, Julia felt the same, in some deep part of herself that she didn't want to give notice to yet.


	10. Chapter 10

A few weeks had passed since their conversation, and the other ladies were relieved to see Anthony back at work, feeling impressed by Julia as she admitted, while fixing herself some lunch, that letting their personal differences affect everyone else had been selfish and unprofessional of her. Charlene assured her there was no need for apologies, that they were just glad to have Anthony back, and things had continued on smoothly since then, the tension between Anthony and Julia gradually decreasing with each day that passed.

It was midday, and Mary Jo was standing behind the counter, eating a snack, and listening to Anthony, who was bemoaning having to spend another day looking in on Mrs. Fricky's iguana.

"I'm telling you, Mary Jo, that sucker has it in for me. I stuck my hand in his tank yesterday to feed him, and you know what he did?"

"What?" Mary Jo asked, grinning with anticipation. She felt sorry for him, but secretly she loved these stories.

"He tried to bite me!" Anthony said, huffing in annoyance. "I finally told him, I said, 'Listen here, this house ain't big enough for the both of us, and you not the only one that's hungry'."

Mary Jo cackled with delight. "And what did he do?"

Anthony looked away sheepishly. "Refused his supper" he answered, cocking an eyebrow at her. "I don't know much, but I do know I didn't survive several years in prison just so I could argue with an iguana."

Mary Jo giggled, and looked at Anthony for a moment before asking, "So, how're things going with Tia?"

"She's doing good" he answered gratefully. "Actually, her dad called a couple of days ago, wanting her to come back home."

"Really? Is she going?"

"Yeah," said Anthony, nodding thoughtfully, "we had a long talk, me and her, and we decided it was for the best. She's going to come back for a visit though, definitely, she and Julia have become pretty attached in the last couple of weeks."

"Yeah, I noticed" Mary Jo said, smiling warmly as she remembered seeing them both saunter out the door for lunch a few days ago. Mary Jo paused before asking tentatively, "What about you and Julia?"

Anthony looked at his feet and shifted awkwardly. "We're...we're good, it's good" he said, nodding his head and not making eye contact.

"Still haven't talked to her about getting back together?" Mary Jo said knowingly, arching an eyebrow.

"Well...well, I mean, it's--I'm gonna do it soon, Mary Jo--"

"Anthony," Mary Jo said, laying a hand on his arm, "let me give you some advice, as a woman, and as Julia's friend: make your move before it's too late. Julia's ready, I can tell. She may not show it, but I've seen the way she is when she's with you, and believe me Anthony--she's a lot happier when you're around."

Anthony smiled gratefully, as the backdoor opened and Julia strode elegantly into the office. "Hey y'all" she called out, walking toward her desk, and dropping her things onto her chair.

"Hey Julia" Mary Jo called out, whacking Anthony in the arm, and taking her cue to leave. "I've gotta go and get Quint a new lunchbox for school. Apparently, the last one I got him was unacceptable because it was lavender--and girly color--and not purple--a boy's color" Mary Jo said, walking toward the front door and slipping into her coat.

Julia giggled and shook her head. "Have fun, Mary Jo" she said, watching the front door close behind her.

A hush fell over the office as Anthony realized they were the only two people left in it, Suzanne and Charlene having gone out to see a client for the day. He watched as Julia hung her coat on the rack, and walked gratefully over toward the sofa, glad for a moment of quiet in an otherwise hectic week. Anthony hesitated before nervously joining her, making sure to seat himself at a respectable distance, resting his hand as casually as possible along the back of the couch.

"Tia told me she's leaving" Julia said tentatively, playing with the hem of her skirt as she looked at Anthony.

"Yeah, Darryl called and they managed to sort things out, so she's going back home to raise the baby with her folks" he said, nodding.

"Bet you're gonna miss her" Julia said softly, looking at him sympathetically.

"Oh yeah" Anthony said, smiling a little sadly. "It's been nice having her around, watching her mature and make plans for the future. She's a great kid; she and I agreed that she'll be coming for regular visits from now on."

Julia smiled happily, looking away shyly. "You did a really good job with her, helping her while she was here. She seems a lot happier now, more settled."

Anthony smiled, watching her play with her hands like a shy teenager. "I didn't do it alone" he said quietly, stroking her shoulder gently. Julia didn't look up, but smiled in spite of herself, trying to straighten her face before he could notice, and failing miserably.

Anthony took this as his cue to make the first move, and slid a little closer to her, stroking her back briefly, trying to gauge her reaction, and making sure not to push his luck. She didn't pull away, and turned her face toward him as he drew his hand along her waist.

"I miss you, Julia" he said softly, looking deeply into her large, sad eyes.

She hesitated for a moment, breaking eye contact and stroking the fabric of his pants, before replying quietly, "I miss you too...I've been thinking about you a lot."

"You have?" Anthony asked in surprise.

Julia nodded, looking up at him through her dark lashes, and smiling.

Anthony reached for her hand, and took it gently in his. "You know, I've been thinking that you and I work better together than apart" he said, smiling at her. He pulled her a little closer and said, "I love you, Julia."

"I love you too, Anthony" she replied, her eyes misting a little.

He leaned in slowly and gave her a kiss, and was surprised when she leaned back into the sofa, pulling him toward her, feeling her grip the lapel of his jacket. He happily obliged, kissing her deeply, and hearing her moan underneath him as he ran a hand up her thigh, teasing the fabric of her skirt and pushing it up a little.

Before they could get any more carried away, they heard Suzanne's car door slam in the driveway, and pulled apart quickly, Julia sighing in annoyance and grabbing a compact mirror from the end table to fix her lipstick as Anthony straightened his jacket, rolling his eyes and trying to fan himself off.

The front door swung open as Suzanne and Charlene rushed inside, and Anthony and Julia managed to play things off well enough for no one to figure out they'd been making out on the sofa moments ago.

Mary Jo came back some 40 minutes later, and leaned toward Anthony as discreetly as possible by her desk.

"Well?" she asked curiously.

Before Anthony could say anything, Julia whisked by them, dropping some papers on her desk and saying sternly, "Mind your business, Mary Jo" as she cocked an eyebrow and smirked, somehow knowing about her and Anthony's conversation earlier.

Mary Jo huffed in annoyance, and Anthony walked toward his desk, winking at Mary Jo when Julia wasn't looking.

Eventually the afternoon wound down, and Mary Jo, Charlene, and Suzanne left to go home, leaving Anthony and Julia alone.

Julia sighed contentedly as she smiled at Anthony and sat next to him on the sofa, snuggling against him, and laying her head on his shoulder.

"Anthony?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, baby?" he said, stroking a hand along her thigh, remembering their fun earlier in the afternoon, and trying not to get too excited by the thought.

She smirked to herself and drew a hand along his chest, opening one of his shirt buttons. "Do you have any plans for the rest of the night?" she asked, stroking his face and smiling at him.

"Mm, I had some ideas" he said, smiling at her and leaning in to kiss her.

"Do you have any time to continue what we started earlier?" she whispered coyly in his ear as he kissed her neck.

"Oh yeah" he said, hearing her giggle as she got to her feet and pulled him upstairs.

As soon as he heard her laugh again, Anthony knew that everything would be all right. 


End file.
